Tag Archives: Archaeological Discovery

Israel says ancient papyrus supports its claim to Jerusalem

Archaeologist working in Jerusalem, Israel

By Jeffrey Heller and Rinat Harash

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli archaeologists have made public a fragment of an ancient text which they say is the earliest Hebrew reference to Jerusalem outside the Bible – a discovery the government swiftly enlisted as evidence of the Jewish connection to the holy city.

The 11 cm by 2.5 cm (4.3 by one inch) piece of papyrus, dated by the Israel Antiquities Authority to the 7th century B.C., was presented at a news conference in Jerusalem shortly after Paris-based UNESCO adopted a resolution that Israel said denied Judaism’s link to the ancient city.

Two lines of ancient Hebrew script on the fragile and faded artifact suggest it was part of a document detailing the payment of taxes or transfer of goods to storehouses in Jerusalem.

“From the king’s maidservant, from Na’arat, jars of wine, to Jerusalem,” it reads.

The Antiquities Authority said its investigators had recovered the document, described as “the earliest extra-biblical source to mention Jerusalem in Hebrew writing”, after it was plundered from a cave by antiquities robbers.

For Israel’s government, the papyrus is a rebuttal to UNESCO, the UN scientific and cultural organization, which is regarded by many Israelis as hostile. Arab members of UNESCO and their supporters frequently condemn Israel.

“Hey UNESCO, an ancient papyrus dating to the 1st Temple 2700 yrs ago has been found. It bears the oldest known mention of Jerusalem in Hebrew,” Ofir Gendelman, a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wrote on Twitter.

Emmanuel Nahshon, a spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry, called Wednesday’s vote in Paris by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee “a piece of rubbish”.

The resolution, according to a text provided by Palestinian officials, refers to a Jerusalem compound – revered by Jews as Temple Mount and by Muslims as Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) – only as a “Muslim holy site of worship”.

Two weeks ago, Israel lashed out at UNESCO for renewing a similar resolution that condemned it for restrictions on Muslim access to the site, in a part of Jerusalem captured by Israeli forces in a 1967 war.

Israel considers all of Jerusalem as its capital, a position that is not recognized internationally. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of an independent state they seek in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

“The discovery of the papyrus on which the name of our capital Jerusalem is written is further tangible evidence that Jerusalem was and will remain the eternal capital of the Jewish people,” said Israeli Culture Minister Miri Regev, in comments included in an Antiquties Authority announcement of the find.

Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, accused Israel of waging an campaign of “archaeological claims and distortion of facts” to try to cement its claim to the holy city.

(Editing by Andrew Roche)

Ancient Greek Fortress Found in Jerusalem; Could Solve Archaeological Mystery

Archaeologists told Reuters that they believe they have found the remains of an ancient Greek fortress after a century of searching. The fortress was once a center of power in Jerusalem and a stronghold that held off a Jewish rebellion celebrated in the Book of the Maccabees.

The fortress was built more than 2,000 years ago by Antiochus Epiphanes, king of the Hellenised Seleucid empire. The location of the Acra has been long debated by researchers and archaeologists and has been one of Jerusalem’s greatest archaeological mysteries.

“It has been an open question in the archaeology of Jerusalem,” Excavation Director Doron Ben-Ami told FoxNews.com. “For hundreds of years scholars, archaeologists and historians have been looking for the location of this Acra and many, many different locations have been suggested.”

Many believed it was located behind now Jerusalem’s walled Old City or by the hilltop where two Jewish temples once stood but is now the Al Aqsa mosque compound. However, the Israel Antiquities Authority unearthed the fortress under an old parking lot located outside the walls overlooking a valley to the south. Archaeologists say the area was a place of construction for Jerusalem under King David from the Bible. Ben-Ami told Reuters that the spot was chosen for Acra in order to monitor the Jewish temple and control the city.

One area of the fortress held artifacts like coins and handles for wine jugs that suggest the fortress was present in the period of Antiochus. Bronze arrowheads and lead sling stones were also found at the dig site and were possibly used when Jewish rebels tried to take over the fortress from pro-Greek forces.

“This is a rare example of how rocks, coins and dirt can come together in a single archaeological story that addresses specific historical realities from the city of Jerusalem,” Ben-Ami said.

Ancient Church Found During Highway Construction

The expansion of the Jersualem-Tel Aviv highway has resulted in the discovery of an ancient church.

The workers were near a spring called Ein Naqa’a when they discovered a Byzantine-era way station and church.  Antiquities Authority estimated the find as being 1,500 years old.

“Churches like the one just discovered at the entrance to Abu Ghosh were built along the road as part of the services offered along it,” Annette Naga said. “Other churches were discovered in the past in Abu Ghosh and in Kiryat Ye’arim.”

The church’s mosaic floor was uncovered along with a series of unique items.  Shards of plaster was found that had been painted red indicating that frescoes were painted on the sites of the buildings.

A baptismal font was also found at the site.

“This road station ceased to be used at the end of the Byzantine period, although the road beside which it was built was renewed and continued to be in use until modern times,” said Nagar.